Jean Clement Birabereye

Year Founded

Partnered with Stumptown

Varieties

Elevation

Processing Techniques

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The Producer

Jean Clement Birabereye runs the Mpanga Kirema Washing Station with values and results we adore. He takes the long view. By paying higher prices for excellent coffee, he motivates farmers to practice meticulous cultivation and harvesting. Birabereye, who has over 15 years of milling experience under his belt, manages the mill. He initiated the washing station construction in 2008. The Mpanga Kirema Washing Station gained notoriety in 2014 when two of their lots placed 1st and 3rd place at the Burundi Cup of Excellence.

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The Place

Located in the Kayanza region of Burundi, the Mpanga washing station works with 3,400 farmers who cultivate their Bourbon variety coffee on the hills surrounding the washing station. Each lot gets separated according to the name of the hill it grew upon: Karurusi, Maruri, Nyangwe, Ntarambo, Nyabikaranga, Kibenga and Kinyamukizi.

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The Process

At Mpanga, coffee cherry is depulped with a mechanical disc depulper. Coffee is dried on raised beds, which helps to control both the rate and evenness of drying. Raised beds also provide easy access to the parchment for hand-sorting and regular turning, which increases the stability of the coffee.